Domestic

Domestic

Azerbaijan offers Bulgaria to join initiative of GUAMâ€™s friends in European Union

19 April 2008 11:01 (UTC +04:00)

Foreign ministryâ€™s press service told APA that Bulgarian official said they had close relations with Azerbaijani parliament and noted the importance of strengthening the activity of the interparliamentary friendship group. Elmar Mammadyarov spoke about Armeniaâ€™s occupation and Azerbaijanâ€™s position on Nagorno Karabakh conflict and briefed about Azerbaijanâ€™s policy of European and Euro-Atlantic integration. The sides also discussed mutual visits of senior officials.
Elmar Mammadyarov also met with Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Foreign Minister Ivaylo Kalfin. Bulgarian minister said political cooperation was on high level and underlined the spheres of energy and transport as priority. Elmar Mammadyarov invited his Bulgarian counterpart to Azerbaijan and noted the importance of cooperating in non-oil sector â€“ agriculture and tourism. Touching on Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, Azerbaijani official assessed it as a great threat to the regional security. He expressed his gratitude for Bulgariaâ€™s position on the settlement of the conflict within the framework of Azerbaijanâ€™s territorial integrity. The minister offered Bulgaria to join the initiative of GUAMâ€™s friends in the European Union. Ivaylo Kalfin said there were opportunities for cooperation within the framework of European Neighborhood Policy and offered discussing concrete projects.
The issues on cooperation with NATO were also discussed at the meeting. The sides discussed regional stability, international security, humanitarian, economic and other issues. Memorandum on discussions between the Foreign Ministries was signed at the end of the meeting.
Elmar Mammadyarov ended his visit to Bulgaria.